NIA to examine verdict in Mecca Masjid blast case

NEW DELHI, APR 17,
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Monday that it would examine the juThe NIA did not challenge the acquittals in the Ajmdgment in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case and decide the future course of action.
Five accused, including former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) member Aseemanand, were acquitted by a special NIA court in Hyderabad on Monday. Nine persons were killed in the blast that was carried out using an improvised explosive device.
The others acquitted are Devendra Gupta, Lokesh Sharma, Bharath Mohanlal Rateshwar and Rajendra Choudhary.
Ajmer Dargah blast
A special court in Jaipur on March 8 last year, acquitted Aseemanand and six others in the case of the 2007 Ajmer Dargah blast that killed three persons and injured 17. Three others were convicted by the court. er case.
Former NIA Director General Sharad Kumar, who oversaw the trial in this case, refused to comment.
Aseemanand walked out of jail in March 2017 after he was granted bail by the Hyderabad court. The NIA challenged the bail, but he was allowed by the court to leave Hyderabad.
Aseemanand was first arrested by the CBI in the Mecca Masjid case in 2010 and the case was then transferred to the NIA.
Samjhauta Express blast
He is facing trial in another case — the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast, where 68 people, mostly Pakistanis, were killed when the train was on its way to Lahore from Delhi. Aseemanand and five others have been charge-sheeted by the NIA. He was granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana High court in August 2014, months after the National Democratic Alliance government came to power.
In the Samjhauta trial, the court recorded the statements of 209 of the 299 witnesses and as many as 42 witnesses turned hostile.
An official said the summons sent by special NIA court in Panchkula to record the statements of 24 Pakistanis who were on board the train at the time of the blast have remained unanswered.